2010P-1DEO-011T Trail Die Obverse

Description

Documented in the Trail Dies catalog and discovered by Albert Neils, the 2010P-1DEO-011T is a trail die obverse variety found on a 2010 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent. Trail dies represent a specialized category of die variety where a faint ghost-like secondary impression of the design appears offset from the primary strike, created during die manufacturing or setup when the die receives an unintended contact that leaves a partial transferred image. The die marker documentation records Stage "B" at mid-die state, with the obverse showing die scratches along Lincoln\'s jaw line — linear marks that serve as diagnostic identifiers for this specific working die. The reverse, also at mid-die state, displays a die chip along the upper right edge of the shield and a die crack entering the field from the top of the shield, documenting structural deterioration that developed during the die\'s production run. The Lincoln Shield Cent, introduced in 2010 to replace the Lincoln Memorial reverse, features a union shield design by Lyndall Bass on the reverse and Victor David Brenner\'s iconic Lincoln portrait on the obverse. Struck in copper-plated zinc composition (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper), the coin weighs 2.50 grams with a diameter of 19.05 mm. As the inaugural year of the Shield reverse design, 2010 saw the Philadelphia Mint producing large quantities of the new type, generating an extensive working die population across which trail die events could occur. The combination of jaw line scratches on the obverse and shield-area deterioration on the reverse provides collectors with multiple checkpoints for confirming both the trail die variety and the specific die pair identity.

Die Markers

• Stage “B“, obverse is MDS – die scratches are seen along Lincoln’s jaw line.
• Reverse is MDS – a die chip is seen along the upper right edge of the shield. A die crack is seen entering the field from the top of the shield.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Albert Neils
• Expert attribution by Trail Dies

External References